So many options so little direction! first, I am 235lbs 5 ft 7" but can't get rid of fat, go to crossfit nc although i took a little 3wk break low back pain, but really have no problems with the wod somedays I can finish up top somedays I am at the bottom! Main objectives is to really lean out, have been working on cleaning up my diet losing the bojangles, going to eggs, spinach, etc.cut beer down to two days a week, I work at a very busy place really want to see just how effective IF is for leaning me out. What are the best ways to start? I usually work out in the afternoon, so I am wondering when the best feeding window would be? I rise @ 5:30 am every day work wod at 6:00 then bed by 10. Thanks for all your help! thomas

personally, I would just stick with vigorous, frequent workouts and a Zone diet in order to dial in your eating patterns. Fasting may only exacerbate your eating problems until you have a disciplined diet. That's my personal view and may not apply to you. Since you are both quite heavy (presumably fat) and quite active, it's simply a matter of giving it time. If your diet is clean and you stick with the WODs or an equivalent, you are guaranteed to be 20lbs lighter within a year if not a lot sooner.

personally, I would just stick with vigorous, frequent workouts and a Zone diet in order to dial in your eating patterns. Fasting may only exacerbate your eating problems until you have a disciplined diet. That's my personal view and may not apply to you. Since you are both quite heavy (presumably fat) and quite active, it's simply a matter of giving it time. If your diet is clean and you stick with the WODs or an equivalent, you are guaranteed to be 20lbs lighter within a year if not a lot sooner.

I concur with what Elliot said here. I like IF and have been doing it since January BUT I wouldn't recommend it to someone that doesn't have their nutrition down to begin with. Some people here might have fell off the healthy eating bus and are using IF as a method to get them back on track but I'd say it's a safe bet that most you ask here about IF have done some type of nutrition regimen pre-IF.

If you really want to give it your all anyway I think the Fast-5 would be well worth your time to read since that's basically the eating window you are talking about. In a nutshell: Eat from 5 pm - 10 pm then fast all other times other than non caloric drinks.

__________________
"And for crying out loud. Don't go into the pain cave. I can't stress this enough. Your Totem Animal won't be in there to help you. You'll be on your own. The Pain Cave is for cowards.
Pain is your companion, don't go hide from it."
-Kelly Starrett

I know the Zone is not really big around here, but it is a good starting place. I would:

1. Start by cleaning up my diet and my kitchen. Lean meat, eggs, protein powder, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, fish oil. Eat what you want from the list, multiple times a day. Drink non calorie beverages with an emphasis on water and green tea.

2. Ramp up nutrition by going on a strict Zone diet. Weigh and measure. record food intake and how you feel. Stick with this until your body fat gets to a reasonable level and you have a very good feel for portion sizes and volumes.

3. Time to go paleo. Start to emphasize food quality (while still keeping an eye on quantity). Organic produce, grass fed meats...back off the "made in lab" food.

4. Now lets compress our eating time into a window during the day or evening. yep, it's IF time! 5 hours a day of eating (3-8pm is working into my schedule), a little more, a little less. Make sure you jam all of your intake from step 3 into the 5 hour window.

Individual results may vary (in deep announcer voice). Now it's time to market the process and rip you guys off...how to get paid? Uh...the Chicago, Oak Street beach Diet, no; the Progression (don't look at the PM or you'll see I ripped off all the ideas) Diet. Screw it, just take it...if I could write a diet book, I wouldn't be a cop!

Thanks for all the help, just have to decide on something and use it and see what happens!! Just did't know which of the two was better, IF just seems like it would be so much easier to do than having to weigh every thing out on the zone. So I am gonna clean my diet up for a couple weeks before I try anything. thanks again

Larry nailed it. I don't follow the Zone anymore, but I started there and still think in "blocks" at times. Zone = food quantity, Paleo = food quality. Combine both for some awesome results and as you get your body attuned, you will figure out if you need more fat, fewer carbs, etc. That's how I ended up going from a Paleo Zone to just straight seasonal Paleo with pretty low carbs, moderate protein, high fat.